Carbon Group

An exhaustive study of the various groups of Carbon remedies in homeopathic materia medica.

Summary of the Characteristic of Various Groups

Below I am highlighting the results of my studies of the various groups of Carbon remedies. Very few carbon remedies are made exclusively of carbon: Adamas. Carbo Animalis. Carbo Vegetabilis. Graphites. The rest of the remedies (over 150 remedies) are compounds including some amounts of Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, Sulphur. What is fascinating is that some Carbon remedies can include for example just three elements:

Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen. With these same elements a carbonyl (Camphor) or a carboxylic (Acetic Acid) or an alcohol (Carbolicum Acidum) can be constructed. And each of these remedies — with identical elements — can have vastly different characteristics. Luckily, all Carboxylics (and all Alcohols or Carbonyls, etc.) have reliable similarities. Thus in Carbon remedies, we can not predict the characteristics by the chemical formula — instead the exact structure, how the elements combine — gives us the possibility to predict the symptoms of a remedy. Through provings and cured cases, I have been able to gain some insight into these various groups. This information is summarized below.

ALCOHOLS

The main characteristic of the alcohols is extreme inhibition (or conversely, disinhibition). The patient appears withdrawn and unable to express himself. Other patients have just the reverse, with immoderate laughter and gesticulation. He may become ﬂagrantly egotistical. These two characteristics can alternate, giving the patient a sort of “manic” appearance. In the disinhibited state, the patient loves everyone, acts overly familiar in an offensive or uncomfortable way. He does not understand your personal space. At other times the patient ﬂares up over long-held grudges which he had been harboring. He abuses especially those who are close family or friends and those who have helped him. The dependency the patient feels toward his close associates is also threatening – they may let him down or abuse him. Furthermore, there may be a type of almost childish bravado, blustering or egotism which the patient feels is punctured by those who have seen his weaknesses too clearly. This creates an external aggressiveness. Internally, the patient feels a desperate need to be understood and valued but feels that this need will never be truly fulfilled. Thus there is an alternating attempt to cover up or overcome his ﬂaws followed by aggressiveness when his needs are not heard. It is interesting to note that many of these remedies are used in the treatment of alcoholism. Most of these remedies appear to be in the Sycotic miasm.

Talkativeness, by which untimely confessions are drawn from him: Alco.

Provings and Cases

Alco: The modest blush of shame vanishes, and improper, undignified acts are committed.

Alco: “My mother was an alcoholic. I was made to take care of her. I was invisible.” Morrison

Carb-Ac: “I hold grudges. I take a lot of guff for a long time then I explode inappropriately. I once kicked my foot through a door. I can be bold and audacious. If people are mean and nasty I can be obnoxious. I chew them up and spit them out.” Reichenberg-Ullman

Kreos: “Guilt has been a big motivation for her in the past. When her mother was dying of cancer, the patient gave up her schooling and career to care for her.” Baker

Lac-Ac: Intense ugliness and hatefulness; writes to her best friends all sorts of mean and contemptible things.

Pic-Ac: “I decide not to push too much since I notice how the patient is feeling very embarrassed and sullen and, furthermore, I really don’t think the answers are very free and truthful.” Mangialavori

Sac-L: Cross and faultfinding, could not speak a pleasant word to anyone.

There are over twenty aliphatic compounds used in homeopathy. The best known of these include Aceticum Acidum, Aetherum, Alcoholus, Amyl Nitrosum, Chloralum, Glonoinum and Oxalicum Acidum. The main homeopathic characteristic of these remedies is passivity. Naturally when there are moieties on the chemical, this passivity may be more or less disguised. For example, Aceticum Acidum is known for its desperate anxiety and irritability which arise from its carboxylic moiety. Despite this, when a patient requiring an aliphatic remedy comes under stress, the deepest instinct seems to be utter passivity. This passivity may be described as a lack of reactivity – both mentally and physically. (This stands in strong contra-distinction with the aromatic remedies who confront stress by excessive mentalization.) The passivity is also related to the general theme of organic compounds concerning lack of self-worth and invisibility. They seem to desire a personal invitation to participate in life. For example, one of the common complaints of those needing the remedy Alcoholus is that they were never heard or listened to. This demonstrates some of the passive quality.

There may be a marked inability to assert. The general organic characteristic of confusion and slowed thinking is even more emphasized in this group of remedies, probably because most are quite small, lipid soluble molecules and thus readily pass the blood-brain barrier. Physically, the patients are especially prone to circulatory dysfunction: pulsations, arrhythmia, ecchymosis. Faintness and syncope are also prominent physical pathologies in the aliphatic group.

Acon-Ac: Dream: I was a character who kept dying and coming back to life with a decomposing body. Sometimes I was this person and sometime I was just watching a movie of him.

Alco: “I just didn’t exist as far as the family was concerned. Especially not fitting in, not being listened to.” Carbn-H: “She is not concerned about things. She just smiles and plays. Even when she wants to change her clothes, she calls for her mother to help her. She won’t ﬂush the toilet and needs help with simple tasks.”

Chlol: From having been a woman of strong will and excellent mental power, she became listless and peevish, childish, indeed, in many things begging for chloral.

Cupr-Acet: They become totally apathetic, don’t want anything, except to be dead, at least there will be no more demands then. Failing that, the least you can do for them is to leave them alone to rest and sleep. Scholten

Glon: “When asked to describe her main personality characteristic and emotional state her response was: ‘I hate arguments.'”

Thios: “She is quiet with a melancholic demeanor and gives the impression of having suffered a great deal of emotional trauma in her life.”

In our materia medica there are some twenty remedies which include amine groups. None of these remedies are well-known or fully understood. Also related are the ammonium salts (NH4 ions) such as Ammonium Carbonicum. By comparing these remedies certain aspects come clear. Scholten (Homeopathy and the Minerals) has written extensively about the ammonium salts identifying resentment, bitterness, grudges, coming from disappointment. These themes are similarly represented in the amines. The patient has a feeling of impending misfortune, disease or injury. Difficulty with trust is a frequent component. Rather, the patient withdraws and becomes a loner and has very poor skills with communication. This gives rise to dreams of desperate or thwarted attempts to communicate with others through the telephone. He feels victimized by life, yet dislikes consolation. Thus solitude is a frequent theme. He feels taken advantage of or even persecuted. At first there may be impulsiveness and hurry but later he becomes indifferent to external things. The patient at times shows a defensiveness, acting brusque or coarse with cursing and other impolite behavior. Internally, there is great timidity. These symptoms, added to the fact that many amines are products of excretion give the suggestion that these remedies may fall in the Leprosy miasm. Physically, the amines have several unique focuses. Foremost is the tendency for renal disorders. Temperature regulation is disordered with marked chilliness in most of these remedies. Headache and nausea are prominent. Weakness and prostration are common to the whole organic group but comes earlier and more regularly in the amine group.

About the author

Roger Morrison

Roger Morrison, MD, DHt attended medical school at the University of Tennessee, graduating in 1978. After completing his internship in medicine, he studied for two years at the Athenian Center for Homeopathic Medicine in Athens Greece, earning the Diploma of the Athenian Center. In 1984 he moved to California, helping to found the Hahnemann College of Homeopathy and the Hahnemann Medical Clinic. He has studied intensively with Rajan Sankaran since 1995. Roger resides in California where he practices and teaches with his wife, Nancy Herrick. He has lectured throughout the world and his writings include: Desktop Guide to Keynotes and Confirmatory Symptoms, Desktop Companion to Physical Pathology, Psychiatric Disorders with Relevant Remedies, The Essence of Various Groups. Visit Roger Morrison at his website: http://www.herrickmorrison.com/